Weird Facts 6

Man survived two days under the sea in a shipwreck, trapped in freezing cold water and breathing from a four foot high bubble of air in an upturned tugboat. Source

St. Bernards, famous for their role as alpine rescue dogs, do NOT wear casks of brandy around their necks.

A civilian employee destroyed a half billion dollar submarine just to “get out of work early.” Source

Researchers polled 250 children regarding their opinions on clowns; all 250 children in the study reported that they found clowns frightening. Source

The average scalp has 100,000 hairs. Redheads have the least at 80,000; brown and black haired persons have about 100,000; and blondes have the most at 120,000. (That is more than a thousand hairs in each square inch!)

The bat on the Bacardi symbol is there because the first BACARDI distillery had a colony of fruit bats living in the rafters. Bats were thought to bring good health, fortune and family unity

The car manufacturer Henry Ford was awarded Hitler's Supreme Order of the German Eagle.

The correct response to the Irish greeting, "Top of the morning to you," is "and the rest of the day to yourself."

The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth 2, moves 49.5 feet for each gallon of diesel that it burns. Source

The Declaration of Independence was written on parchment, which is actually made from animal skin. Read More

The dome on Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, conceals a billiards room. In Jefferson's day, billiards were illegal in Virginia.

The dunce cap of schoolhouse fame originates from a paper cone that was placed on the heads of accused witches during the Middle Ages. When Joan of Arc was martyred, she was wearing one of them. False

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There is a belief that a person only needs water, air, and light to live. It is called a breatharian. Source

In 1956 Soviets proposed a joint project to build a dam across Bering Strait in order to warm the Arctic Ocean but it wasn’t found practicable by the US. Source

Uruguay’s president lives in a farm-house with no servants. Has two security guards. Donates 90 percent of his salary, has a net worth of $1,800, and drives a 1987 VW Beetle. He has sold the seaside presidential palaces, advocates for legalizing marijuana, and same-sex marriage. Source

The fingerprints of koala bears (koala resembles a bear, but is actually a marsupial) are virtually indistinguishable from those of humans, so much so that they could be confused at a crime scene.

A Swedish mercenary fought in 13 wars on 4 different continents. Source

The 'Hundred Years War' lasted 116 years.

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the first attractions in Disneyland. It opened in 1967, and has been a huge hit in the park ever since. When the attraction opened in 1967, Pirates of the Caribbean used real human skeletons as props. “Because the original Imagineering team felt that the faux skeletons of the period were just too unconvincing, the grotto sequence originally featured real human remains obtained from the UCLA Medical Center. The skeletons were later returned to their countries of origin and given a proper burial.” Source

The names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru: See no evil, Kikazaru: Hear no evil, and Iwazaru: Speak no evil. In English, the monkeys' names are often given as Mizaru, Mikazaru, and Mazaru.

A 1992 study of 100 different sites in 22 states showed that when the speed limit was raised the number of accidents decreased by 6.7%. When the speed limits were lowered the number of accidents increased by 5.4%. Source

A man spent 3 years designing and creating “the perfect city’ using Sim City 3000. The city, named Magnasanti had the game’s maximum population of 6 million, no crime and no pollution. Source

When he was 12 years old, Fidel Castro wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt. He asked him for a $10 dollar bill because he had never seen one before. Source

In the UK you are legally required to stop if you run over a dog, but not a cat. Source

The monument to the Spanish conquistador Sebastian de Belalcazar was built on the graves of the people he conquered. Source

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Comments

Cleopatra wasn't a queen, she was filling in for her step son who was too young to be pharaoh, (not king or queen) the beard was worn by pharaohs so that people knew that was the pharaoh. She wore it to make sure people knew.

"The monks of the St. Bernard Hospice deny that any St. Bernard has ever carried casks or small barrels around their necks; they believe that the origin of the image is an early painting. The monks did keep casks around for photographs by tourists."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bernard_dog#In_media

Quote:

"St. Bernards, famous for their role as alpine rescue dogs, do NOT wear casks of brandy around their necks. "

Incorrect, these dogs did have barrels round there necks and were trained by monks, the following painting shows the barrels and the article confirms it.

Number 37 is incorrect. I don't remember what country it was, but when they invaded Egypt they believed that a persons soul went into a statue when they died, and by cutting off the nose, they could release the soul and the persons soul would finally be at peace.